It’s officially back-to-school season, which means approximately 54.1 million students are headed back to the classroom. It also means backpacks heaped in the front entryway, homework strewn across desks, and plenty of school supplies piling up.
The fact is, every fall, back-to-school home organization becomes essential… again. After all, if you avoid it now, you know you’ll regret the decision come winter break!
So, if you’re looking for a few home organization tips that are sure to earn an A+, here’s how to pare down, clean up, and get to organizing before the very first bell rings:
Cut Down on Belongings
Start by throwing out, selling, donating, or giving away anything that no longer serves a purpose in your space.
As a general rule, big-ticket items or those in good condition are ideal for resale. Anything that is still in decent condition but may not be worth the hassle of listing, haggling, and selling can be donated. Then, anything that doesn’t fit into either category can typically be tossed. Of course, sentimental value and other qualifiers should be considered, but try your best to be discerning.
This job shouldn’t be limited to just the parents, either. Most school-aged kids can (and should) have a role in decluttering the home and their rooms.
Just keep in mind that for some children, getting rid of belongings (even those they rarely use) can feel sad or frustrating. It’s not uncommon to be met with resistance, so you might want to explore a few coping strategies before getting started.
Some parents suggest framing the pare down with positive language, like “making over the play space”, while others have a rule that for each new toy a child receives, an old one must be donated. Whatever the case may be for your family, simply ensure that everyone is engaged in the process.
Find a Home for Anything You Choose to Keep
One of our top home organization tips includes making room for everything that’s left. Because nothing causes clutter quite like a house full of items with no “home”.
So, determine where each and every piece you choose to keep should live — starting with school-specific items.
For example, perhaps you decide that backpacks go on the wall hooks in the mudroom, used lunch boxes go on the counter next to the sink, and soccer cleats go in the basket next to the front door. Or, maybe you choose to crack down on kids clearing their dishes to the dishwasher after dinner each night, so packing lunches in the morning is a breeze.
Whatever you decide, knowing the expectation can help keep kids accountable. Then, when you do eventually find a soccer cleat on the couch, you can quiz them on where their athletic gear is supposed to live.
Invest in Your Organizational Strategy
In the process of finding a home for each item, you may want to invest in additional help.
At this stage, begin grouping similar, smaller items together and find a convenient way to store them.
To corral similar items, you might consider:
- Drawer organizers
- Letter sorters
- Desk caddies
- Pen cups
- Cable management tools
- Bins, boxes, or baskets
- Shoe racks
- Coat racks
- Hangers
- Closet organizers
- Hooks, shelves, or cubbies
- Under-bed storage drawers
- Dressers, credenzas, or chests of drawers
While you’re at it, you might also want to pick up a few labeling materials to make finding and storing that much easier. Consider:
- Labels
- Tags
- Chalk markers or pens
- Stickers
- Bookplates
While function is highly important here, don’t forget form. Your organizational materials can certainly embody your interior design strategy, from artfully woven baskets to rustic chalk labels.
This doesn’t have to break the bank, either. You can repurpose old materials, visit your local thrift shop, or simply get creative with whatever you have on hand. After all, the wad of grocery bags inside another grocery bag is a classic for a reason.
Ensure Everyone is on the Same Page
While not one of our more physical home organization tips, consider creating and posting a family calendar. Whether updated on a dry-erase board or an acrylic sheet, utilize it to share updates, remember key dates, and otherwise keep the household running smoothly.
Place the calendar somewhere easily accessible, like a family room or mudroom. Of course, ensure all family members can reach, or have easy access to something like a step stool.
Then, get together and decide what should be placed on the family calendar. School start and stop times may be helpful for the first few weeks of the year, but athletic events, holidays, parties, extracurriculars, and other regular activities are often safe bets all year round.
The best part? The whole family now has an excuse to get together at the end of each month and plan out the next 30 days.
Create a Maintenance Plan
Speaking of planning ahead, in order to ensure all of this work isn’t done in vain, you’ll want to develop a maintenance plan for following these home organization tips moving forward. After all, each family member will have to continually do their part so everyone can maintain a clean and organized lifestyle.
Consider scheduling out a few recurring reorganization sessions to address clutter before it becomes overwhelming. For example, perhaps Mondays are for sweeping and dusting while Tuesdays are for laundry. Or, maybe everyone chips in for a house-wide deep clean every weekend. Of course, there’s always the tried-and-true chore chart as well.
Your approach should be tailored to the age of your kids, the personalities of your family members, and the capacity everyone has for cleaning. But you certainly don’t want to forge ahead without a maintenance plan of some kind.
This is one of our most important home organization tips, so don’t overlook it!
Wrapping Up: Top Home Organization Tips for Back-to-School
The back-to-school season is often chaotic, stressful, and downright messy — for parents and kids alike. This year, though, you can rise above the clutter and implement some back-to-school home organization tips right off the bat.
From paring down family belongings to investing in a few bins or baskets, this school year could truly end up being one for the books. After all, an organized home will always earn an A+!
Published on September 8, 2025
